Hot days equal cold drinks
By Craig Allan, Business Manager
Summer is here, and by the looks of it, it is going to be a hot one as temperatures in the Lower Mainland are rising to levels that have never been seen. With the heat feeling all-encompassing, a cool beverage will likely be more than just a tasty drink, but instead a companion that can help keep us refreshed on these hot days. Many fast service chains can see this heat coming, and therefore have introduced many options to quench the thirst of the masses. However, not all are created equal. Which place offers the best drink for beating the heat?
I’ll start with a classic: the 7/11 Slurpee. The Slurpee has always been great and has always worked as a brain freeze for your head, and a great way to cool your hands. Other places serve slushie drinks, but the Slurpee has always been the best. Though the Slurpee is always a great thirst quencher what really makes it amazing are the seasonal and limited-time special flavour offerings. Unfortunately, this year’s crop of flavours are not as good as they have been in the past.
This year they have flavours like dragon fruit and grapefruit lemonade alongside the standard Coke and Orange Crush. These new flavours just don’t stand up to the greats like sour green apple and Mountain Dew Code Red. The grapefruit is too tart, and the dragon fruit just doesn’t have a good taste. It is always a crapshoot with the Slurpee; sometimes you will get a good flavour and a bad flavour. It’s just a shame that this summer’s crop is so underwhelming.
I also tried 7/11’s fountain drink offerings, and while they were good, I did think it was disappointing because I thought a place like 7/11 would offer more options like Vanilla Coke or Lemon Coke. Instead, they just offered the regular drinks you can find anywhere else. This is odd because if I am going to get a drink, and all they offer is the standard fare, why wouldn’t I just go to McDonald’s or Dairy Queen where they sell the drinks for $1?
The next offerings are the Slushie concoctions from McDonald’s. This new drink comes in two flavours: red raspberry and pink lemonade. I tried the pink lemonade and while it was refreshing, I found it too tart and a little flavourless. It costs only $2 to get a medium, so the price point is good if you are looking for a cold drink of any kind. But, in terms of taste, there is a lot left to be desired.
The McDonald’s milkshakes are still an underrated gem though, and their Dollar Drink Days are always good. Though making only the small and mediums $1 and excluding the large which was included in previous years is a disappointing update to the promotional.
The next items are Tim Hortons Thirst Quencher. It is a cool drink that comes in strawberry watermelon and peach. I tried the strawberry watermelon and it was quite good. It had a great taste that was also fairly unique since I have seen very few places mix strawberry and watermelon.
The one problem I had with my drink hunt was the pitfall that every person who gets a drink from a fast-food place should heed: too much ice. From my experience, every fast-food place puts too much ice into any beverage if they can… probably to maximize profit. Just remember whenever you are getting a drink, ask for light ice. If you are drinking it right away anyway, what does it matter how long the drink stays cold?
So out of all the drinks I procured, the one I would choose above all would have to be the Thirst Quencher from Tim Hortons. It doesn’t last as long as something like a slushie, but as a refreshing beverage, the Thirst Quencher felt new and unique, and I found that it lived up to its name. Just remember to ask for light ice.
